Dozens of police officers who were at the Capitol when a swath of protesters descended upon them are recovering from their injuries nearly a week after the insurgence.
About 60 Washington, D.C., law enforcement officers and an unknown number of Capitol Police officers were hurt in the hourslong assault on the Capitol, according to the Washington Post. One officer was hit with a bat, another was struck with a flagpole, and another officer was beaten with clubs until fellow officers rescued him, police said.
Another got wedged between two doors in a Capitol vestibule, where he screamed in pain as rioters tried to get the gas mask around his head off, a different officer suffered an apparent heart attack after someone used a stun gun on him six times, and a third lost the tip of his right index finger.
A Capitol Police officer also died amid the chaos. Officer Brian Sicknick, 42, a 12-year veteran of the force, died Thursday after he “was injured while physically engaging with protesters,” the Capitol Police said in a statement. The Capitol Police said he had “returned to his division office and collapsed” and died from his injuries after being transported to an area hospital. The exact circumstances around his death remain unknown.
A second Capitol Police officer later died by apparent suicide, but it’s unclear if his death was related to Wednesday’s violence.
“I’ve talked to officers, who have done two tours in Iraq, who said this was scarier to them than their time in combat,” acting D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said.
Contee also noted that he spoke with an officer who had been discharged from the hospital after being beaten and injured, saying, “He’s obviously very shaken, very appalled, very angry.” He added that the officer had personal items stolen from him by rioters.
One police officer remains hospitalized as of Monday.
A spokesperson for the Capitol Police declined to specify how many officers suffered injuries but noted that the injuries sustained range from concussions to scrapes and bruises. None of the 1,400 Capitol Police officers who were there remain hospitalized.
Nearly 70 people were arrested during Wednesday’s events, and the police and FBI are asking the public for help in identifying other suspects. The Justice Department also announced charges for several people on Friday, including a man photographed in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, a man from Alabama who was allegedly found with guns and Molotov cocktails in his truck, and a delegate in the West Virginia Legislature.
